By: Anna Eileen White | Photos by: Ashlee Glen
Pushing himself and others to new heights is nothing new for Harry Foster, a Lynchburg resident recently appointed Vice President and North American Commercial Director at Performance.io.
Eager to stay on the cutting edge of his industry, he’s advanced from one position to the next with striking agility over the years. From his early days as a competitive swimmer, to a career path ignited by a fortuitous conversation with a swim coaching client, to 12 years of “warp speed” career progressions in health and technology, Foster and his wife found their ideal tempo when they found Lynchburg.
Performance.io, a leading specialist SEO (search engine optimization) and performance marketing agency in pharma and healthcare, welcomed Foster on board in an April 2025 press release.
“We are delighted to bring such quality in to lead the U.S. business and accelerate growth for our U.S. clients,” said CEO and founder, Matt Lowe. ”
Harry’s network, strong knowledge of pharma and previous track record will help existing and new clients to utilize our core offer and help them navigate and leverage changes and opportunities in the omnichannel and search landscape.”
For Foster, navigating and leveraging those changes seems to come naturally after years of honing his mindset and work ethic.
He grew up swimming competitively and once in university, qualified for the 2012 U.S. Olympic trials.
“That’s a big part of me. I kind of call that the first phase of my life,” he shared. “It was about swimming and competing. But I think [it] then fed into my professional life.”
After college, Foster took up swim coaching while considering his career options. A finance major, he could have pursued the obvious options, but wasn’t sold. While coaching a triathlon client one day, the client told Foster what he did for work, prompting Foster to mention his own job search. A conversation ensued.
“He told me to be in his office at 8 a.m. that next Monday,” Foster explained. “That’s when I started at STEM Healthcare.”
A UK-based startup that “helps life science companies accelerate brand performance,” Foster was STEM’s third U.S. employee.
He worked his way through various roles: analyst, project manager, account director, head of operations, and eventually Vice President of Business Development.
“I just really immersed myself in it, absorbed it, soaked up everything I could,” he said, “I was 23 and thought, what else do I have to lose? This seems really fascinating—working with pharmaceutical companies in the healthcare space. So I went all in and that’s kind of how it started. I put my head down and just worked my way through it.”
Throughout his time at STEM, it was sold twice and scaled, growing in the U.S. from 3 employees to 40, and was eventually acquired by a larger organization with approximately 10,000 employees.
Foster commented on the high-risk nature of startups, adding that despite the risk involved, they saw exponential growth, “The science, how much it’s evolved, what it can do for patients, and the products from 12 years ago to where they are today—it’s incredible.”
As Foster transitioned from one role to the next, his personal life was changing too. Residing in Raleigh at the time, Foster and his wife were struggling to start a family. Life was hectic.
“To be completely honest with you, it was a fast, fast life.
And we just didn’t feel like life was ever slowing down,” he shared. After a year of trying to conceive, they sought medical advice.
The provider’s response? “You just need to slow down and you need to change the pace.”
“So we moved,” Foster shared, “We looked and said, ‘We want to move somewhere smaller. Just change the pace.’ We found Lynchburg and said, ‘Let’s, let’s do that.’ We love the outdoors and the mountains, and within a couple months of moving, she got pregnant, and now we have two kids, and we absolutely love it.”
But the urge to keep growing stayed strong. “I went from startup to corporate within 12 years, and then thought, what do I want to do next?” Foster said. While he still enjoyed the work he was doing, he wanted a challenge. When he learned of the opportunity with Performance.io he saw a chance to springboard off his current skill set. “[Performance.io is] a similar concept and an obviously different product, but that same type of client services within the pharmaceutical space,” he shared.
At Performance.io, he’ll focus on scaling the company and executing his client services experience, but this time in a predominantly digital realm. As a leading specialist SEO and performance marketing agency, Performance.io’s primary service is helping pharmaceutical companies position their products for optimal web discovery.
“Most of us, when we start our journey of seeking information, are using a search engine. We’re going to Google, pulling up our phones, our laptops. The whole point of [Performance.io] is helping the pharma clients meet their audience, whether it’s a PCP or patient or caregiver,” said Foster.
He finds playing a “very small” part in the bigger mission—connecting providers and patients with life-saving medication— particularly fulfilling. “I think there is this sense of a greater purpose as well,” he shared. “I think the impact I hope to have is growing and scaling the U.S. Performance.io to new heights where we’re able to have an impact with our clients and ultimately help them have an impact with their patients.”
Additionally, he’s excited to give back by creating a culture where people can reach their full potential. “I had mentors and leaders that helped me grow, and I’m hoping to return that to others,” he said.
While Foster travels occasionally for work and finds the Lynchburg Amtrak station and airport a major convenience, most weekends find him home enjoying time with family.
“I’ll work from anywhere, as long as my family is happy where they are,” he said.
Foster and his family love the Lynchburg and Forest Farmers Markets and the ease-of-access nearly every attraction in Lynchburg boasts. “We have a toddler and an infant, so we don’t get out too much these days, but it’s just the little stuff— going to the local restaurants, going downtown, going for a walk on the Blackwater Creek trail without it taking 45 minutes to get across town,” he said.
